Overall I quite like the C01S but I noticed some flakiness in the twist operation of my unit and wonder if it’s the same for others.
Once the light turns on, it must still be twisted further (~8-16 degrees rotation or ~1-2mm twist travel along the circumference). Otherwise in that region between turning on and being fully tightened, slight pressure on the head can cause it to flicker, or change modes, or turn off.
Pressing against the head shows there is some play in the threads. It’s only a fraction of a millimeter of compression, but it’s still noticeable.
In contrast, the Olight i1R 2 EOS has virtually no such compression if pressing against the head. Its switch is different, but when it turns on it does so solidly.
The C01S isn’t bad; I just have to remember to tighten it fully each time, but when I forget, it’s a bit frustrating to deal with the flakiness. Also, fully tightening the head makes it “stick” a little due to compressing the O-ring at the end of the thread travel, and that makes the operation less smooth.
Yeah, I’ve seen the “barely off but easy to turn on by wiggling” thing happen with several kinds of little AA twisty lights.
A nuisance if it happens in a pocket. “Why are your pants glowing” isn’t the kind of question a flashaholic appreciates hearing.
It’s certainly still usable, and I do tend to be picky. However, I didn’t notice anything indicative of a manufacturing defect. The clip on mine broke when I was trying to remove it, but that’s another story.
Muggles might be especially frustrated by the behavior. The Olight’s functioning is more as I would expect.
Note that it doesn’t turn on accidentally even if I try to wiggle it. If twisting more than 2mm past off, there is no problem. It’s really only in a small but critical region where I notice the flakiness.
Similar to mine. I’ve just adapted to it and turn it tightly each time without thinking about it. My old Fenix e01 has even more ability to turn on by pressure to the head, but it doesn’t need to be tightened all the way to turn on like the C01s. I think I’ve overlooked this minor imperfection because of the nice sst20. Thanks for reminding me. EDC01 has a butter smooth action that works well.
Maybe it has something to do with the bezel not having a hard stop when tightened over the pill, and no glue. You can’t tighten it very hard because then it goes so far over the pill that the light does not switch on anymore. So twisting the head to switch on the light also moves the bezel a bit, twisting the light off may even screw your bezel off the pill. A drop of suitable glue under the bezel may make the switching more reliable.
That description doesn’t sound anything like the C01S. The bezel isn’t loose, and head definitely can’t be tightened too far, since it screws flat onto a ledge on the tube.
I wonder about wear on the PCB’s metal contacts that rub against the tube, and the center contact that rubs against the battery head. They do leave slight marks, so I hope they don’t cause contact issues later.
Bearbreeder I’m surprised at how much I like high CRI after experiencing it in person… gonna be hard to give it up now
I noticed that on mine, and it was due to the outer reflector ring being slightly loose. Overtightened that so it wouldn’t get loose again, and it was stable. I have five of these now.
I will add that my C01s seemed unlubed and was squeaky out of the box. It was much better after some lube and pulling rubbery stuff off the sides of the contacts on the head.
Without thread lubing is harder to go all the way down, preventing a good contact! I use Xtar X-lube (Silicone grease), but probably you can find something similar in a local hardware shop.
Oh, I see. Mine has no problem going all the way down to make contact. As I described, the issue happens before it is fully screwed in.
If it has trouble going all the way in, I’d think that would indicate the O-ring needs lubrication, more so than the threads.
The threads and O-ring on mine were very slightly greased when I got it. Not much, but there was definitely something on there. I’ll have to check if we still have some automotive silicon grease lying around.
I just use silicone electrical connector / bulb grease from the auto parts store. It was $2-3 for a small tube. It only takes a little bit on the o-ring, so a small tube lasts a long time.
Yeah ... was gonna say lube . .. sometimes wonder if threads really need lube or if it's o rings only. I usually lube threads and then wipe them clean so they are slightly lubed . more generous on o-rings and more so on twisty lights .
